Play store
Nearly 5,000 residents of Kalshi in the capital have been living in miserable conditions after days of heavy rain left homes submerged under chest-deep water, prompting them to block a key road on Sunday to demand drainage and electricity restoration.
The protest began in the afternoon when residents of Begun Tila, Notun Camp and the Bihari Colony blocked the Kalshi-Mirpur DOHS road, alleging that they had remained stranded for four days without electricity or adequate assistance.
While visting the affected areas, this correspondent found large sections of the neighbourhood inundated, with floodwater entering homes and forcing many families to seek shelter on the road divider. Some residents were seen sitting there with their children and belongings, while others had brought livestock to the median strip after their homes became uninhabitable.
The protesters said they had been enduring severe hardship with little food, no electricity and no safe place to sleep.
“We are living in inhuman conditions with our families. Nobody is coming to help us. We are spending our nights under the open sky. Left with no other option, we have taken to the streets,” several residents told reporters.
Niaz Ahmed Khan, coordinator of the affected residents, said around 5,000 people had remained marooned for the past four days.
“There is no place to sleep inside our homes because everything is underwater. Many families have run out of food, and the assistance we have received is far from adequate. We are not protesting for any political reason. We simply want the government to solve this crisis immediately,” he said.
Officer-in-Charge of Pallabi Police Station, Md Hasan Basir, confirmed that local residents had blocked the road after their homes were inundated.
“The road remained blocked from the afternoon until the evening. It has now been cleared for traffic. Around 5,000 people in the area are still marooned by floodwater,” he said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Mirpur Traffic Division, Paritran Talukder, said the blockade caused traffic congestion in the area.
“Residents blocked the Kalshi intersection demanding immediate measures to remove the accumulated water. Police members worked to persuade them to leave the road and restore vehicular movement,” he said.
Residents urged the authorities to pump out the stagnant water, restore electricity and provide emergency relief, saying the situation was becoming increasingly unbearable as floodwater continued to inundate their homes.